Cost oversight caught

Lauren Vane

When the Huntington Beach City School District Board of Trustees

voted in early March to close Kettler Elementary and relocate the

district administrative offices, it was a decision intended to

address financial concerns and declining enrollment in district

schools.

Moving the district offices to Perry Elementary would free up the

Le Bard site for sale or lease and maximize capacity at the Perry

facility.

However, board members were hit with surprise, and disappointment,

when new Supt. Roberta DeLuca revealed that the decision was not a

cost-saving decision at all.

DeLuca announced at an April 19 meeting that instead of saving

money, the move could cost the district an estimated $700,000.

“We’re looking at all the options,” DeLuca said. “With that

number, now we’re looking at perhaps scaling that back.”

For a school district tasked with cutting $2 million from the

budget by June, the cost oversight is staggering.

“Had we known up front that it would cost this much, it wouldn’t

have even been an option,” said President Cathy McGough.

When DeLuca presented the figure, she said her staff had estimated

the number based on improvements that would be necessary for the

district offices to be moved to Perry. A new parking lot, electrical

infrastructure and phone system upgrades were among the more costly

expenses.

“We’re still in the process of seeing how we can do this without

causing a burden to the general budget,” DeLuca said.

When the board voted on the combined motion in March, McGough said

she did not think modernizations at Perry were necessary for the

move.

“We did look at it [the cost],” McGough said. “We looked at it in

a different view.”

An itemized list of the costs of moving the district office was

not presented at the time the board made its decision, said Trustee

Shirley Carey.

“You have to vote on the best information you have at the moment,”

McGough said.

Currently, Perry has modernized classrooms in addition to six

portables, according to Perry Principal Elaine Keeley. The estimated

figure assumed that the district offices would need to go into

modernized facilities. Now faced with the high cost estimate,

trustees say that modernized facilities might not be necessary.

“If we can put kids in a portable for classes, we can put the

district offices in portables,” said Trustee Brian E. Rechsteiner.

Rechsteiner has always opposed Perry as a location for the

district offices, one reason being the lack of adequate parking, he

said.

The board met Tuesday night and held a study session to review the

budget updates. While the board chews on the new figure, Carey said

there is no rush to move the district offices and plenty of time to

discuss other options.

“This has been a hectic Spring for everybody and you just can’t

deal with everything at once. You have to deal with it piece by

piece,” Carey said.